Word that emergency radios don’t work well in our schools came as a surprise to us — and apparently to school officials.

The problem hasn’t yet caused an issue so far as we know, but heaven forbid a school shooting or other disaster occur at one of our schools and law enforcement officials not be able to talk to one another.

We can imagine chaos could ensue if officers couldn’t report their status, or that of a bad guy, during an emergency.

We’re not quite sure why this information hasn’t come to light before now. But, now that it is known, it’s high time to just get it fixed.

Radio reception in any big building can be problematic, especially metal buildings covered with brick or blocks.

Radios aren’t the only electronic with communication problems in the schools. Cell phone signals are almost nonexistent at both high schools. Relying on cell phones in an emergency at the schools isn’t the answer.

The radio fix, an amplifier of sorts, could be as inexpensive as $5,000 a building. None of the county’s 13 schools has amplification devices, and a $65,000 price tag seems a small price to pay to ensure emergency personnel can communicate if there’s trouble.

We’re glad to see Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie and School Superintendent Randy Shearouse are tackling this issue.

Now’s the time to pull out the checkbook and get this done.

LAUREL:

It’s been a tough 10 days or so across the nation. We had the horrific bombings and their aftermath in Boston, an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, the poison ricin sent to the president and a senator, and the failure of universal background checks in the U.S. Senate.

We watched with the nation Friday night as crowds lining the streets of Watertown, Mass., cheered law enforcement officers after the successful live capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

It was an amazing moment that followed what appeared to be great job by federal and state officials. We send a laurel to the residents of Watertown for thanking those who are rarely thanked. And, of course to law enforcement for doing their jobs.

DART:

This isn’t a popular opinion, most likely, in our neck of the woods, but we have to throw a big dart to those in the U.S. Senate who voted against expanded background checks for gun purchases.

The bill would have made it harder for criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to purchase guns. It would have required background checks for online and gun show sales.

It’s something polls show 90 percent of Americans support.

Sounds simple.

And it was until nasty politics got in the way.

From many reports, it appears some Senators were spooked by the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby. A furious Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman shot in the head at point-blank two years ago, said it best in an op-ed piece she wrote for the New York Times: “Senators say they fear the NRA and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets.”

Giffords, and many others, pointed at misinformation thrown around before the vote.

The myth was that the bill would lead to a national database of gun owners. Federal gun registry is already forbidden in current law and a section of this bill also barred the database.

Yes, we know background checks would not have stopped the Newtown massacre. But they could very well stop another parent from planning a child’s funeral.